The war resumed, and the Luo Ze Empire shifted from offense to defense.

Due to the emergence of special subhuman troops and changes in the beastman army's tactics, Luo Ze Empire lost several cities in succession.

Fortunately, the lost cities were mostly located on the empire's periphery.

After the setback in autumn, Luo Ze Empire relocated most civilians from border areas to the inland, keeping the vast majority of civilians safe and temporarily out of the war's grasp.

Initially, due to morale, military strength, and other factors, Luo Ze Empire faced defeats after defeats, but once the king decided to publicly reveal the prophecy's translation, Luo Ze soldiers rekindled their fighting spirit.

They could no longer afford another loss, for if they lost again, the beastmen would advance deeper into the nation's heartland.

They didn't know what brutal acts the bloodthirsty beastmen might commit on their land.

Then, countless people would surely die under the beastmen's butcher knives.

Hatred for the beastmen gradually overshadowed the soldiers' fear of war. Under General Luo Ze's command, they united once more, bursting forth with unprecedented strength.

Luo Ze Empire, being the main battlefield, had the geographic advantage familiar to its soldiers.

Additionally, with the entire country united, the resource allocation seemed much faster than before...

It wasn't long after the war restarted that Luo Ze Empire gradually found some ways to cope with the beastman assaults, and the war began to move towards a stalemate.

No one knew when this war would end.

If people from both nations believed the translation was real, believing that different races would fight to the death, true peace would be unattainable.

To Mr. Qilom, history seemed to be replaying itself.

About three hundred years ago, humans treated various subhuman races in the same way.

After the Dark Age ended, humans and various subhuman races, who had once fought on the same front, soon turned against each other.

Several kingdoms began to expel and massacre various subhuman races, ultimately leading to the widespread distribution of subhuman races in human countries, or their influx into the Ocean Duchy and Dragon God Evaluation Country, or the establishment of Wansheng Country at the continent's west end.

Despite going through numerous records, Mr. Qilom couldn't find out how that past war finally ended.

Many countries coincidentally erased this segment of history from their respective national records.

The truth of that war might only be known by one person now.

Elves can live a long time.

The Prime Minister of Wansheng Country, now the Governor of Wansheng Republic, Ming Dalak, personally participated in the founding battle of Wansheng Country.

There are rumors that thanks to Ming Dalak, human nations realized their mistakes and eventually ceased their persecution of subhumans.

From this point alone, Ming Dalak should be someone who venerates peace and will do everything possible to push the two countries towards peace...

But in the end, he chose war.

Perhaps over the long years, he saw no change in humans, ultimately abandoning the idea of peace and deciding to fight humans to the end.

Thus, he revealed the pages' translation to the beastmen.

Understanding others' thoughts is inherently difficult, especially when faced with an elf nearly a thousand years old.

Mr. Qilom couldn't discern whether Ming Dalak's actions were a strategy to achieve his goals or a serious move.

If it's the former, there's still room for negotiation, but if it's the latter, then peace factions led by Mr. Qilom don't know what to do to restore peace between the two countries.

They do not want to see rivers of blood from both sides or one side's annihilation.

If not for the Demon King's descent as this black swan event, there might still be time to find a solution....

But..... next year is the time of the Demon King's descent.

The people of this world are still fighting each other, how ironic.

The story of the Demon King and Hero is recorded quite vaguely, but it seems every time, it concludes with the Hero's complete victory.

Many senior officials in Luo Ze Empire believe that this Demon King's invasion will surely end with the Demon King's defeat, no need to make a fuss.

What arrogance, and how irresponsible.

They're even using the Hero for such foolish tasks, wasting the Hero's precious development time.

In some aspects, those people are beyond help, trapped in the war against the subhumans, unable to extricate themselves.

They think dealing with subhumans is more important than dealing with the Demon King.

Have they never thought, if the Demon King shows his true strength from the start, how many will die then?

What does it take to make these two hostile countries put aside their grudges and unite to confront the Demon King?

Should the event of the Demon King's descent be disclosed to Ming Dalak?

Would his reaction to receiving this news be belief or dismissal, thinking humans are tricking him...

Every time he thought of this question, Mr. Qilom would be utterly vexed.

Constantly troubled by these worries, everything he made seemed no longer as tasty as before.

To outsiders, he could only claim that he had hit a bottleneck.

Sitting in the sealed restaurant, Mr. Qilom vented his frustration by smashing kitchenware and randomly tossing ingredients.

Other members of the peace faction proposed a few plans, but none were satisfactory.

Mr. Qilom grew increasingly irritable.

Today, as usual, he was smashing things in the kitchen, venting his emotions.

Yet, he didn't expect a "distinguished guest" to arrive.

"Mr. Qilom." The secretary politely knocked on the kitchen door.

"What do you want! I've said not to disturb me without reason!" Mr. Qilom stopped his actions, his sunken eyes filled with anger.

The secretary calmly said, "There's someone outside who wants to see you, a familiar face, the man we once met at the All Things Library.

You instructed that if this man comes, we should disturb you regardless of what you're doing."

Hearing this, Mr. Qilom quickly realized who the visitor was:

"Let him in, let me talk to him alone. Go prepare!"

"Yes."

Responding, the secretary led Yang Yu and his group to Mr. Qilom's spacious dining area.

A year and a half had passed, the once-boy now stood taller, yet Mr. Qilom recognized him at once from the smile on Yang Yu's face:

"Kid, it's been over a year. Have you found any novel foods while strategizing through the Underground Maze?

Planning to fleece me with those novel foods, aren't you?"

Yang Yu laughed, "How can this be called fleecing? It's a willingly agreed trade, how can it be called fleecing?"

Mr. Qilom snorted coldly, "Still the same as before, only good with words. Let me see what you've brought!"

Yang Yu made a gesture for money, exuding an air of profit-driven motives from head to toe:

"This time I've brought quite a bit of good stuff to honor you, old man, so prepare for a big spend.

Moreover, there's the agreement we sealed before, it's been over a year, isn't it time you fulfilled it once?"

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